Royal Ploughing Ceremony

[ Last Update: Wednesday, 09-Dec-2009 09:37:57 EST ]

The Royal Ploughing Ceremony is an ancient royal rite held in Thailand to mark the traditional beginning of the rice-growing season. In the ceremony, two sacred oxen are hitched to a wooden plough and they plough a furrow in some ceremonial ground, while rice seed is sown by court Brahmins. After the ploughing, the oxen are offered plates of food, including rice, corn, green beans, sesame, fresh-cut grass, water and rice whisky. Depending on what the oxen eat, court soothsayers make a prediction on whether the coming growing season will be bountiful or not. The ceremony is rooted in Brahman belief, and is held to ensure a good harvest.

In fact, the Ploughing Ceremony is of Brahman origin and it was practised even before the birth of Lord Buddha who, then a Prince, used to take part in the ceremony. The auspicious day and time are to set by the Royal Brahman astrologers. Nowadays, although Their Majesties are present at the ceremony, the King no longer takes the leading role, His Majesty the King appoints the Ploughing Lord as his representative to carry out the rites.

During this colorful ceremony, the amount of rainfall to be expected in the coming season is forecast. The Ploughing Lord is offered a choice of three lengths of cloth, all looking identical, if his choice is the longest one there will be rain during the coming year; if his choice is the shortest one, rain will be plentiful while the one of medium length indicates average rain.

After donning the piece of cloth, called "Panung", the Ploughing Lord then ploughs furrows in Sanam Luang with a sacred plough of red and gold drawn by sacred white bulls and followed by four consecrated ladies who carry gold and silver baskets filled with rice seed. Walking alongside the plough are Brahmans who are chanting and blowing conch shells.

Since 1966, the Cabinet declared Ploughing Ceremony day as the Annual Agriculturists Day. This is to make agriculturists aware of the importance of agriculture and to remind them to take part in the ceremony to bring about good luck and wealth for themselves and the country as a whole. Since then, the Agriculturists Day has been observed together with the Rice Grains Blessing and Ploughing Ceremony.